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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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•"'•■' Studies in American History 

Copy 1 



FOR GRAMMAR QRADBS. 



The Louisiana Purchase 



N, C, HEIRONIMUS, 



Price, 10 Cents. 



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TYPE STUDIES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

FOR 

GRAMMAR GRADES. 



Tlie Stamp Act. 
The Missouri Compromise. 
The Louisiana Purchase. 

Foreign Relations, 1793-1797. In preparation. 
Nullification of 1832. To follow. 

Improvement of Means of Communication. To follmv. 
Ten Cents per Copy. 

N. C. HEIRONIMUS, 

Richmond, Ind. 



A 



TYPE STUDIES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 



FOR 



GRAMMAR GRADES. 



THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE 



^t or HEIRONIMUS. 



RICHMOND, IND.: 

M. CULLATON & CO., BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS. 

1900. 



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Library Of Conyres. 

""wo Copies Reciiveo 
SEP 17 ]900 

Copynght entry 

SECOND COPY. 
OHbii{ ^VISION, 

L SjP 20 1900 



Copyright, 1900, by N. C. Heironimus. 






THE LOUISI;^]:^A PUECHASE. 



mTEODUCTION. 

The Mississippi valley is today the most impor- 
tant part of the United States. The traveler who 
sees its wonderful resources, its busy life, and its 
ever increasing prosperity, no longer wonders that 
it was the cause of so much strife and conflict among 
rival European natioxis. Indeed, he is more inclined 
to wonder that this great region was not seized upon 
and developed earlier in the history of American 
colonization. 

The Spaniards were the first to make discoveries 
here. The romantic wanderings of Ferdinand De 
Soto (1539-1541) through the lower part of the val- 
ley, his discovery of the great river, his death and 
lonely burial beneath its waters, are as a familiar 
story to American school children. But the Spanish 
did not follow up the work of De Soto, and the prize 
passed to their neighbors, the French. The claim of 
this latter nation was based on the explorations of 
Joliet, Marquette, Hennepin and numerous other 
French traders and missionaries who pressed into 
the region from Canada. Unlike the Spaniards, the 
French fortified their claims by settlements at Mo- 
bile, New Orleans, and other places which seemed to 



b THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 

offer advantages for trade or for holding the country. 
They gave the valley the name Louisiana. 

At this time Louisiana, as claimed by the French, 
included the whole of the Mississippi valley, extend- 
ing on the southwest to the Rio Grande, and on the 
southeast to what is now Florida. The Spaniards, 
while acknowledging French ownership of the valley 
proper, denied that the region afterward known as 
Texas was any part of the French province. 

Meanwhile the English, basing their claims on 
the discoveries of the Cabots, were calmly granting 
charters to colonies which were described as extend- 
ing directly across Louisiana and on westward to 
the Pacific Ocean. As long as the activity of the 
English was limited to the Atlantic coast plain no 
serious trouble arose from these wide claims; but 
when pioneers began to push over the Alleghenj^ 
Mountains to the upper Ohio valley the French 
hastened to build a line of forts as a barrier to this 
movement. Then followed the decisive struggle 
known as the French and Indian War, which broke 
the power of France in America and gave England 
the leadership in the race for empire. 

At the close of the French and Indian War 
France divided Louisiana, giving England all lying 
east of the Mississippi except the island of Orleans, 
and to Spain all west of the river and also this island 
on the east; the portion ceded to Spain was all that 
retained the name of Louisiana. Florida was at 



THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 7 

this time transferred to Enpjland by Spain. This ar- 
rangement of territory continued until the English 
colonies became the United States. By the treaty 
of 1783 the limits of the United States were declared 
to be the Mississippi on the west and the parallel of 
thirty -one degrees north latitude on the south. Spain 
had joined France in war against England, had prac- 
tically conquered Florida, and she now was permitted 
to retain that territory. In 1762 England had been 
assured the free navigation of the Mississippi; and 
Article YIII. of the treaty of 1783 declared "the 
navigation of the Mississippi river, from its source 
to the ocean, shall forever remain free and open to 
the subjects of Great Britain, and the citizens of the 
United States." 

The use of the Mississippi river was very impor- 
tant to those Americans who had crossed the moun- 
tains to find new homes in the fertile plains of the 
Mississippi valley. Without it the rapidly growing 
settlements in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee would 
be without a market for their products, since the 
mountains made it practically impossible to reach 
the cities of the Atlantic coast. The wording of the 
treaty of 1783 was plain enough, but that was made 
with England, while Spain now owned both banks 
of the river below the thirty-first parallel. The 
Americans claimed that since England possessed the 
right of navigation throughout the whole length of 
the river by treaty with France and Spain in 1763, 



THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 



she could and did transfer the same right to the 
United States in 1783 ; they further argued that since 
the United States owned the left bank of the river 
above the thirty-first parallel they were naturally 
entitled to the use of the lower portion of the stream. 

Spain refused to recog«nize the American claim 
and closed the river to American commerce; the 
western settlers threatened war against Spain, rebel- 
lion against the United States, and trouble general!}' 
unless their wrongs were redressed. At last the 
United States sent Thomas Pinckney to Spain to try 
to settle this and other disputes between the two 
nations. This he succeeded in doing in 1795. The 
treaty then made secured the free use of th-e Missis- 
sippi for the citizens of the United States, and, for 
three years, the right to deposit goods at the port of 
New Orleans in order to transfer them from river 
boats to ocean vessels ; this right of deposit was to 
be continued after the three years either at ]^ew 
Orleans or at some equally convenient spot on the 
lower Mississippi. This quieted for a time all dis- 
turbance arising from this question. 

No further trouble occurred until 1800. In that 
year Spain gave Louisiana back to France. The 
treaty was a secret one and the Spanish officers con- 
tinued in authority at New Orleans, but news of the 
transfer reached America and great excitement was 
aroused. It was thought that it would be much 
more threatening to have France as our neighbor 



THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 9 

than to have Spain ; the X. Y. Z. incident was still 
fresh in memory. Besides Spain was weak while 
France, at that time under Napoleon, was thought 
to be the greatest military power in Europe. Eeports 
came from time to time of the great preparations the 
French were making to strengthen their hold on the 
province as soon as the formal transfer should be 
made; an army of twenty-five thousand men was to 
be sent, settlers were to be encouraged, and money 
was to be freely spent. Suddenly the Spanish officer- 
in charge at New Orleans declared that since the 
Pinckney treaty of 1795 was limited to three years 
the Americans should no longer have the right of de- 
posit at New Orleans. This practically deprived us of 
the use of the lower Mississippi, and the excitement 
in the United States became doubly great. Many 
openly urged a declaration of war against Spain and 
the seizing of New Orleans before France could take 
possession. 

The Spanish government disavowed the action of 
its representative at New Orleans, and our rights there 
were restored; but the idea constantly grew that the 
question must be given a final settlement. Accord- 
ingly President Jefferson ordered our minister at 
Paris, Mr. Edward Livingstone, to try to buy of the 
French government the island of Orleans and some 
portion of the neighboring territory. Later, 1803, 
Mr. Monroe was sent to assist in bringing about the 
purchase. 



10 THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 

THE PUECHASE. 

When Mr. Monroe reached France he found that 
Mr. Livingstone had reached an important point in 
the negotiation. After many evasive replies to his 
attempts to purchase enough of Louisiana to secure 
the use of the lower Mississippi, Il^apoleon's minister 
had startled him by asking, "What will you give 
for the whole of it?" So large a purchase was more 
than Mr. Livingstone had thought of, or had author- 
ity to make; but after sorfie consideration he deter- 
mined to make it if possible. Mr. Monroe at once 
agreed that so great an opportunity was not to be 
lightly thrown away, and the two Americans set to 
work to secure the best terms possible. The French 
at first demanded a sum equal to $20,000,000 ; Mr. 
Monroe and Mr. Livingstone protested that this was 
altogether too much; finally a sum equal to $15,- 
000,000 was agreed on as the price and the treaty of 
transfer was written out. The question of area and 
boundaries at once became very important. On these 
points the treaty was indefinite, merely describing 
the territory as the same which France had received 
from Spain ; this in turn was described as the same 
which Spain had received from France in 1762. The 
area, as given by the United States land commis- 
sioner, is 883,073 square miles. The boundaries may 
be roughly given as Canada on the north, the Mis- 
sissippi river on the east, the Gulf of Mexico and 



THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 11 

Mexico on the south, and Mexico and the Eocky 
Mountains on the west. Parts of this boundary were 
the subjects of disputes, which we may now briefly 
consider. 

The kind lying east of the Mississippi, below the 
thirty-first parallel and west of what is now Florida, 
was known as West Florida. Since this was at first 
(1682-1763) held by France as a part of Louisiana, 
the United States claimed that it was included in her 
purchase. Spain, however, claimed that since this 
territory, known as West Florida, passed into the 
hands of England in 1763, and was held by that 
nation until conquered by Spanish arms during the 
American Eevolution, it could not reasonably be con- 
sidered any part of what Spain had received from 
France in 1762 and had given back to France in 
1800; hence it could not be sold by France to the 
United States in 1803. The United States pressed 
her claim, and in 1810 seized the territory; Spain 
continued to protest until 1819, when she ceded all 
her possessions in America east of the Mississippi 
to the United States. Our government has always 
held that West Florida came to us with Louisiana; 
the most careful investigators, however, argue that 
we got no claim worth mentioning at that time, and 
never had a really good title until 1819. 

The northern boundary of our purchase was the 
water-shed between the tributaries of the Mississippi 
and the rivers flowing to Hudson Bay. This irregu- 



12 THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 

lar line was satisfactory to neither Great Britain nor 
us, hence in 1818 the two nations agreed on the line 
of forty -nine degrees north latitude as the boundary 
from Lake of the Woods to the Eocky Mountains. 

Another dispute related to Texas on the south- 
west. The United States claimed the land to the 
Eio Grrande as a part of Louisiana, but Spain denied 
that it extended beyond the Sabine. This dispute 
continued until 1819, when it was agreed that the 
line between the Spanish possessions and the United 
States should run as follows : To begin at the mouth 
of the Sabine and follow that stream to the latitude 
32 degrees north ; from that point directly north to 
the Eed Eiver; up the Eed Eiver to longitude 100 
degrees west from Greenwich ; north on the meridian 
of 100 degrees to the Arkansas Eiver; up the Ar- 
kansas Eiver to its source ; from that point due north 
to the forty-second parallel of north latitude, and 
west on that parallel to the Pacific Ocean. Thus we 
gave up our claim on Texas, but in return we re- 
ceived Spain's claim on the Oregon country. Eecent 
investigations in the papers of the French govern- 
ment go to show that our claim to Texas was well 
founded, and that we gave up too easily this vast 
region which we were afterwards so anxious to get. 

Some writers have claimed Oregon as a part of 
Louisiana, but the best historians and statesmen 
agree that the water shed along the Eocky Moun- 
tains marked the western limits of the latter. 



THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 13 

DISPUTE OVER THE PURCHASE. 

Livingstone and Monroe had been ordered to 
purchase the month of a river; they bought an area 
greater than that of the whole Union at the time 
when they were commissioned. Can we wonder that 
the people were surprised? But knowing as we do 
the value of this land now* we can scarcely believe 
that the purchase of it was bitterly opposed by many 
statesmen of the day. 

The first line of opposition was that of Constitu- 
tionality. Jefferson, it will be remembered, was the 
leader of a party who believed in very strictly follow- 
ing the wording of the Constitution. Unless power 
to do any act which might be proposed could be 
plainly shown to be granted to the government by 
the Constitution, this party held that the government 
must refuse to undertake it. Their opponents, — the 
Federalists, — had stood up for a more liberal inter- 
pretation and claimed that the government possessed 
many powers not expressly mentioned in the Con- 
stitution. ISTow there is not a single clause or phrase 
in the Constitution which, in direct language, gives 
the government power to acquire territory. Jeffer- 
son hesitated to conclude the purchase and wished 
to have an amendment made to the Constitution giv- 
ing the government this power. But his party were 
in control, an amendment would cause delay and be 
troublesome, so they determined to adopt for once 



14 THE LOUISIANA PUECHASE. 

the arguments of their opponents and claim the 
power by construction. 

But other than constitutional arguments were 
made use of by the opponents of the purchase. New 
England statesmen feared that the West would grow 
away from the East, that the price to be paid would 
drain the country of mone}^, in short that nothing 
but evil would come from the purchase. On this pro- 
fessor McMaster says : 

" Some were worried lest the East should become 
depopulated, lest a great emigration should set in, 
lest old men and 3^oung men, abandoning homes and 
occupations, should cross the Mississippi and perhaps 
found there a republic; that no common ties of in- 
terest could ever bind together under one government 
men who fought Indians and trapped bears around 
the head waters of the Missouri, and men who built 
ships and caught fish in the harbors of the Atlantic 
coast. Some aifected the language of patriots and 
lamented the enormous increase the purchase would 
make in the national debt. This, indeed, became a 
favorite theme, and soon Federal writers and printers 
all over the land were vicing with each other in at- 
tempts to show the people what an exceedingly great 
sum of money fifteen million dollars was. 

"Fifteen million dollars! they would exclaim. 
The sale of a wilderness has not usually commanded 
a price so high. Ferdinand Gorges received but 
twelve hundred and fifty pounds sterling for the 



THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 15 

province of Maine. Williani Penn gave for the 
wilderness that now bears his name but a trifle over 
five thousand pounds. Fifteen millions of dollars! 
A breath will suffice to pronounce the words. A few^ 
strokes of the pen will express the sum on paper. 
But not one man in a thousand has any conception 
of the magnitude of the amount. Weigh it, and 
there will be four hundred and thirty three tons of 
solid silver. Load it into wagons in a line, giving 
two rods to each, and they will cover a distance of 
five and one third miles. Hire a laborer to shovel it 
into carts, and, though he load sixteen each day, he 
will not finish the work in two months. Stack it up, 
dollar on dollar, and supposing nine to make an inch, 
the pile would be more than three miles high. It 
would load twenty-five sloops ; it would pay an army 
of twenty -five thousand men forty shillings a week 
each for twenty -five years; divided equally among 
the population of the country, it would give three 
dollars for each man, woman, and child. All the 
gold and all the silver coin in the Union would, if 
collected, fall vastly short of such a sum. We must 
therefore create a stock, and for fifteen years to come 
pay two thousand four hundred and sixty -five dollars 
interest each day. Invest the principal as a school 
fund, and the interest will support forever, eighteen 
hundred free schools, allowing fifty scholars and five 
hundred dollars to each school. For whose benefit 
is this purchase made? The South and West."' 



16 THE LOUISIANA PURCUASE. 

There were some who did not hesitate to call the 
purchase worthless. Eepresentative Griffin of Yir- 
ginia feared that it "would prove a cemetery for the 
bodies of our citizens." Others expressed forebod- 
ings little less gloomy, but fortunately most states- 
men took a more hopeful view and the purchase was 
completed. \^iewed in the light of to-day we wonder 
how there could have been any hesitation; in the 
words of Mr. Adams, "As a matter of diplomacy it 
was unparalleled, because it cost almost nothing." 

GOYER^ING THE TERRITORY. 

Having settled the question as to whether or not 
we should accept the purchase, it was next necessary 
to arrange for its government. A difficult problem 
confronted Congress at the very outset, namely, what 
pDwer had it over the territory? Was its power 
limited by the Constitution as in the case of the States? 
Or did the power to purchase territory carry with it 
the power to govern what was purchased as Congress 
saw fit? Did the clause of the Constitution which 
says, "The Congress shall have power to * * * 
make all needful rules and regulations respecting the 
territory or other propert}^ belonging to the United 
States," apply to Louisiana? Or did that clause refer 
only to the territory held when the Constitution was 
adopted? How these questions were answered ma}^ 
best be seen by noticing the plan of government 
finally adopted. 



THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 17 

The Si^anish plan was adopted temporarily, the 
President being given the same authority as had 
been held by the king of Spain. All officers for the 
territory were to be appointed by the President 
alone, not even the consent of the Senate being re- 
quired. It was very plain that this was not accord- 
ing to American ideas of government, nor according 
to the plan outlined in the Constitution. If Congress 
had the power to pass such laws as this,, then its 
power over the territory was clearly unlimited by 
the Constitution. Senator Benton said of this law, 
" It was a startling bill, continuing the existing Span- 
ish government. >!< * * Nothing could be more 
incompatible with our own Constitution than such a 
government." 

But this was merely a temporary arrangement, 
to continue only till Congress could find time to work 
out a plan of its own. In March, 1804, a law was 
passed which divided the territory into two parts. 
All lying north of what is now the State of Louisi- 
ana was joined to Indiana territory, and thus came, 
for a time, under the ordinance of 1787. The south- 
ern portion, which contained nearly all the inhabit- 
ants, was named the "Territory of Orleans;" and it 
is with the plan of government provided for it that 
we are most interested. A most striking thing is 
that the people of the territory, almost fifty thousand 
in number, had absolutely no voice in their govern- 
ment. All the officers, — governor, secretary, legis- 



18 THE LOUISIANA PUECHASE. 

lature, judges, — were appointed by the President. 
It is also interesting to notice the stand taken by the 
national government in regard to slavery. It will 
be remembered that the Constitution forbade Con- 
gress to prohibit the importation of slaves into the 
states before 1808. But according to the law of 1804, 
no slaves were to be admitted into this territory from 
abroad, and none from the slave states except such 
as were brought by persons moving into the territory 
as settlers. 

It is easy to sec that Congress did not think it 
was bound to consider the Constitution at all in plan- 
ning a government for the territory. Some held that 
the power to act thus came from the clause referred 
to above, which gives Congress the power to make 
all needful "rules and regulations" for territories. 
Others claimed that the power to buy territory neces- 
sarily carried with it the power to govern. Our 
Supreme Court has since held that Congress could 
fairly claim the power in either way. 

This power assumed by our government in regard 
to our first acquisition of territory is of special inter- 
est now, when we seem to be just entering on a new 
period of territorial expansion. Many questions are 
heard as to whether, under our Constitution, Con- 
gress and the President have the power to set up and 
operate colonial governments. Any intelligent an- 
swer to these questions must be based on what has 
been done in that line. 



THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 19 

HISTORICAL SICiNIFIGANCE. 

" We have lived long; but this is the noblest work 
of our lives." Thus spoke Mr. Livingstone to Mr. 
Monroe and the French ministers when they had 
signed the Louisiana treaty, and posterity judges 
that he spoke truly. Mr. Adams declared that, " The 
annexation of Louisiana was an event so portentous 
as to defy measurement; it gave a new face to poli- 
tics, and ranked in historical importance next to the 
Declaration of Independence and the Adoption of 
the Constitution — events of which it was the logical 
outcome." An event of such high rank deserves 
careful analysis so that the elements which go to 
make it great may be appreciated. 

The first point to notice is that the completion of 
the purchase seems to have settled the question as to 
constitutionality of acquiring territor3^ Since that 
time there has been no serious doubt but that the 
government may acquire territory by either purchase 
or conquest. The Supreme Court has several times 
decided that such action is perfectly constitutional. 

Furthermore this transaction had a very decided 
influence in bringing about a broader construction of 
the Constitution in general. The fact that the power 
to purchase territory could safely be held to belong 
to the government, although nothing is said about it 
in the Constitution, very naturally inclined states- 
men to think other powers could be claimed for the 



20 THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 

government in the same way. This has gone on 
until many things are done by our government to- 
day, without any question as to power, which would 
have been considered beyond its powers by even 
Federal statesmen of the early years of the republic. 

The exchange of positions by the Eepublicans 
and Federalists in their arguments on constitution- 
ality introduces a very interesting, and sometimes 
very confusing, fact of American politics. The chief 
difference between parties in the United States has 
always been found in their idea of the Constitution. 
One party has stood for broad construction, while 
the other has insisted on narrow or strict construc- 
tion. But the strict construction party, when in 
power, is frequently tempted to justify some of its 
actions by a broader construction than it usually 
approves. On the other hand, the broad construc- 
tion party, when out of power, is equally tempted 
to adopt strict construction views and declare such 
action unconstitutional. Thus there is often danger 
of mistaking the principles of the two parties if only 
one struggle between them is noticed. It should 
always be remembered that the party in control of 
the government tends toward a broader construction 
than it usually approves, while the party in opposi- 
tion almost invariably becomes more narrow in its 
views of the Constitution. 

Another interesting point to notice is that the 
government, from the very first, treated the pur- 



THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 21 

chased territory as if it were not subject to the Con- 
stitution at all. For instance the treaty promised 
that the French and Spanish ships coming directly 
from France or Spain should be admitted to the port 
of New Orleans on equal terma of the ships of the 
United States. This was not true in ports along the 
Atlantic coast, yet the Constitution plainly says, "No 
preference shall be given by any regulation of com- 
merce or revenue to the ports of one state over those 
of another;" and in another section, "All duties, 
imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the 
United States." In setting up a government for the 
new territory there was, as we have seen, no pretence 
of arranging it according to the Constitution. In 
fact some of the laws made were directly contrary to 
its provisions. Thus it was made a law that ho 
criminal was entitled to a jury trial unless accused of 
a capital crime; while the sixth amendment to the 
Constitution says, "In all criminal prosecutions the 
accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public 
trial, by an impartial jury." 

Finally we may notice that it was this purchase 
which assured the stability and greatness to the 
United States. While we were barred from the full 
use of the Mississippi and shut away from the gulf 
of Mexico, we were far from independently situated. 
Speaking of the relation of the purchase to our 
present standing as a nation Judge Cooley says: 
"The United States of to-day stands as it does in 



22 THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 

the first rank of nations, strong and self-centered, 
and without threatening diversity of interest among 
the states, because Mr. Jefferson, in 1803, without 
constitutional justification as he then believed, as- 
sumed on behalf of the Union to make a purchase 
of foreign territory. The jmrchase, therefore, stands 
out on the pages of history as one of those significant 
and mighty events that distinguish the epochs of 
occurrence." 



ACQUISITIONS SINCE 1803. 



FLOEIDA. 



The peninsula now known as Florida was dis- 
covered and named by the Spanish explorer Ponce 
de Leon in 1513. After several bloody Indian wars 
and a struggle with the French, who also wished to 
form colonies in that region, the Spaniards succeeded 
in making permanent settlements. Florida remained 
a Spanish province until the close of the French 
and Indian War in 1763, when it was ceded to Ens*- 
land. England held it until the close of the Eevolu- 
tion in 1783, and then returned it to Spain, in whose 
possession it remained until purchased by the United 
States in 1819. 

Our country was scarcely assured of independence 
before we desired Florida. A glance at the map will 
show that to have a natural boundary we needed it 
very badly. It would be very dangerous to have the 
peninsula in the possession of a country with which 
we were at war; it would endanger our control of 
the Gulf of Mexico. During the war of 1812 Eng- 
land made use enough of it to show how dangerous 
it might become. 

But there were other reasons why we were anx- 
ious to get control of this territory. The Spaniards 



24 ACQUISITIONS SINCE 1803. 

had never made many settlements in Florida, and 
after the Eevolution run -away slaves from onr south- 
ern states found refuge with the Indians who lived 
among the swamps and lakes in the interior of the 
peninsula. These escaped slaves and the Indians 
among whom they lived would organize raids against 
the towns and plantations on our side of the bound- 
ary, destroying property, murdering citizens, and 
leaving ruin and desolation behind them. When fol- 
lowed they would retreat to the everglades, as the 
swamps of central Florida are called, and there defy 
pursuit. Very naturally our citizens objected to this, 
and finally in 1818 Greneral Jackson was sent to that 
section to punish the invaders. He went after them 
in his usual energetic fashion, followed them to their 
retreat, and practically conquered the whole penin- 
sula. 

Spain seems to have decided that if we were com- 
pelled to conquer it a second time we might not be 
willing to give it up again. She therefore consented 
to sell it to us, and in 1819 a treaty was made by 
which we were to have Florida in return for the pay- 
ment of $5,000,000. Our Senate ratified the ti'eaty 
at once, but the Spanish government found excuses 
for delay so that the transaction was not completed 
until 1821. On July 10th of that year the American 
flag replaced the flag of Spain at St. Augustine, an 
American garrison took charge of the fort at that 
place, and Florida was ours. 



ACQUISITIONS SIXCE 1803. 25 

The United States government has always claimed 
that we purchased only land which now forms the 
state of Florida: But Spain claimed that she also 
sold us the land east of the Mississippi, south of the 
thirty-tirst parallel, and west of the state of Florida, 
except the island of Orleans. The treaty merely 
stated that we were to have all the possessions of 
Spain east of the Mississippi. Thus was settled the 
dispute as to who owned West Florida, for that land 
was now ours in either case. The Florida we claimed 
to have bought contained 59,268 square miles; the 
Florida Spain claimed to have sold contained 69,749 
square miles. 

It was by this same treaty that we gave up to 
Spain all claim on Texas, and she in return gave us 
her claim on the Oregon Country. 

TEXAS. 

Ko part of the United States has had a more 
romantic history than the state of Texas. It was 
discovered by Spanish explorers in the sixteenth 
century, but no settlements were made till long after. 
In 1684 the greatest of French explorers, La Salle, 
attempted to found a colony at the mouth of the 
Mississippi. Having missed the river, he landed on 
the coast of Texas and established his settlement 
there. His colony lived only a few years, but France 
claimed Texas as a part of Louisiana until 1762, 



26 ACQUISITIONS SINCE 1803. 

Spain at the same time claiming it as a part of Mex- 
ico. From 1762 to 1801 Spain owned both Louisiana 
and Mexico, and there was no chance for dispute. 
In 1801 Louisiana was given back to France, and 
two years later it was sold to the United States. We 
at once claimed that Texas was ours, because, accord- 
ing to France, it had been a part of Louisiana. Spain 
refused to recognize our claim, and the dispute went 
on till, by the treaty of 1819, the boundary line was 
established as described on page 12. 

But Spain was not long to enjoy the possession 
of this country for which she had so long contended. 
In 1821 Mexico threw off the Spanish yoke and be- 
came an independent republic, of which Texas was 
a state. The new republic was anxious to develop 
its resources, and offered land to settlers on easy 
terms. Many persons in the southwestern portion 
of the United States took advantage of the liberal 
offers of the Mexican government and removed to 
Texas. Mexico forbade slavery, but these settlers 
from the United States disregarded the law, or man- 
aged to evade it, and made Texas a slave state. In 
return, Mexico ceased to offer such inducements to 
settlers, and interfered considerably with the local 
government of the state of Texas. 

The Americans in Texas believed as thoroughly 
in local self-government as did their forefathers of 
Eevolutionary fame, and proceeded to rebel. Many 
volunteers flocked to their aid from the United States, 



ACQUISITIONS SINCE^1803, 27 

and in 1836 Texas became an independent republic. 
But independence was not what the Texans reall}^ 
aimed at; they wished to be annexed to the United 
States. The people of our Southern states were 
anxious to obtain Texas, for they thought it would 
be made into several slave states, and thus add to 
their power in Congress. Many Northern people 
objected to its annexation because they feared this 
very thing would happen. In the presidential cam- 
paign of 1844 the Democrats declared boldly for 
annexation, while the Whigs tried to be on one side 
of the question in the North and on the other side 
in the South. As a consequence, Henry Clay, the 
Whig candidate, was defeated, James K. Polk, the 
Democratic candidate, was elected, and Texas became 
a state of the Union in 1845. 

Mexico considered our annexation of Texas as an 
unfriendly act, and her anger was increased by a 
dispute which arose about the boundary line. We 
claimed that Texas was bounded on the south and 
west by the Eio G-rande and a line drawn from the 
source of that river due north to the forty-second 
parallel. Mexico insisted that the boundary on the 
south and west was Nueces Eiver from its mouth to 
its source, and then an irregular line along the hills 
or highlands some three hundred miles. east of the 
boundary we claimed. The dispute led to war be- 
tween the United States and Mexico, in which the 
former was victorious, gaining not only the disputed 



28 ACQUISITIONS SINCE 1803. 

territory, but also a large area to the west of the 
Eio Grrande. 

At the close of the war with Mexico the United 
States found another boundary dispute on hands. 
New Mexico, which then belonged to the United 
States, insisted that her eastern boundary was along 
the hills east of the Eio Grrande, while Texas still 
claimed the Eio Grande as the line. Strange to saj^ 
our government was by no means so certain as when 
the dispute was with Mexico, and hesitated to settle 
the trouble. Texas threatened to seize the disputed 
territory by military force, and matters seemed to be 
coming to a crisis. To avoid trouble Congress passed 
the compromise of 1850, one provision of which 
was that Texas was to give up all claims outside her 
present boundary and receive in return $10,000,000 
from the national treasury. 

OEEaON. 

While the dispute with Mexico as to the boundary 
of Texas was at its height, a long standing dispute in 
another quarter was brought to a close. The land 
lying west of the Eocky Mountains and between 
California and Alaska was long known as the Oregon 
Country. At the close of the eighteenth century 
four nations, — Spain, Eussia, The United States, and 
England, — laid claim to this land. 

Spain claimed that different Spanish explorers 
had gone along the coast northward from California, 



ACQUISITIONS SINCE 1803. 29 

thus giving her a claim to the land back to the 
mountains. The Eussian explorer Behring sailed 
south along the coast from Alaska in 1728, and again 
in 1740, and therefore asserted a claim to the terri- 
tory in dispute. Captain Eobert Gray of the United 
States entered the great river of the region in 1792, 
and gave it the name of his vessel, the Columbia ; on 
this our claim was founded. Shortly after the dis- 
covery of Captain Gray, Captain Van Couver car- 
ried the British flag up the Columbia, and the next 
year (1793) Alexander Mackenzie crossed from Hud- 
son Bay to the Pacific Coast; the work of these two 
men gave England her claim, although she. sometimes 
referred back to the supposed exploration of the 
coast by Sir Francis Drake in the latter part of the 
sixteenth century. It is interesting to notice how 
these conflicting claims were gradually adjusted un- 
til the territory was finally divided between England 
and the United States. 

After the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, President 
Jefl'erson sent out Lewis and Clark on their famous 
expedition. Their exploration of the Columbia and 
some of its tributaries strengthened our claim on the 
Oregon Country, and the settlement of Astoria in 
1811 by the John Jacob Astor Fur Company began 
our occupation of it. By 1818 it had become neces- 
sary for England and the United States to come to 
some understanding to 2:)revent serious trouble. In 
that year a treaty was made which provided that 



30 ACQUISITIONS SINCE 1803. 

either of the two countries might make and control 
settlements in the disputed territory; this treaty was 
to last for ten years. At the end of that time (1828) 
the treaty was renewed, and this time it was to con- 
tinue in force until one of the two countries gave 
notice, a year in advance, that it would no longer 
abide by it. 

Meanwhile Spain and Eussia had given up their 
claims. By the terms of the treaty of 1819 Spain 
gave up the contest in our favor. In 1821 the Czar 
of Eussia, claiming the land down to 51 degrees north, 
issued a proclamation warning all other nations to 
keep out pf the Pacific Ocean above that parallel. 
We were not willing to admit Eussia's claim, and in 
1823 President Monroe gave warning that we would 
not do so in his famous message containing the 
" Monroe Doctrine." As a consequence of this warn- 
ing of President Monroe, a treaty was made between 
the United States and Eussia in 1824, according to 
which no settlements were to be made by the United 
States above 54° 40' N., and none below that parallel 
by Eussia. In 1825 Eussia and England agreed upon 
the same line between their claims. 

England and the United States were thus left to 
end the contest between themselves. The treaty of 
joint occupation made in 1818 and renewed in 1828 
was continued, and settlers from both countries went 
to Oregon. The English, however, wished to keep 
the country a wilderness in which to carry on the 



ACQUISITIONS SINCE 1803. 31 

fur trade, while the Americans desired to clear away 
the forests and make farms. In 1835 Dr. Marcus 
Whitman went out as an American missionary to that 
region. He saw that the country was very valuable 
and that more American settlers must be persuaded 
to go there if we were to hold any part of it. He 
accordingly went to the capital and other eastern 
cities, interested the President and others in the 
matter, and returned to Oregon at the head of a com- 
pany of three hundred emigrants. Other emigrants 
followed, and at last our interests there became so 
important that notice was given Great Britain that 
we could no longer consent to continue the joint oc- 
cupation agreement. In 1846 a treaty was made by 
which it was agreed to continue the boundary line 
on the forty-ninth parallel to the Pacific. This 
gave the United States about seven-twelfths of the 
land in dispute. 

Another dispute arose some years later as to the 
ownership of the San Juan Islands. The treaty of 
1846 said the boundary should follow the forty-ninth 
parallel to the middle of the channel between Van 
Couver's island and the mainland, and then follow the 
middle of the main channel to the ocean. But the 
question arose as to what was the main channel. 
Our government claimed that the main channel lay 
beyond the San Juan group, thus giving the islands 
to us. The English claimed that the channel this 
side of the islands was referred to, thus giving them 



32 ACQUISITIONS SINCE 1803. 

the group. In the treaty of Washington, 1871, it 
was agreed that this dispute should be left to Emperor 
William of Germany to decide. He examined the 
evidence of both sides, and then announced that the 
islands belonged to the United States. 

MEXICAN CESSIONS. 

At the close of the Mexican War California and 
]^ew Mexico were in our possession, and we were 
disposed to keep them. Mexico was helpless, and so 
consented that we should do so. We in return paid 
her $15,000,000, and assumed debts due American 
citizens by the Mexican government to the amount 
of about $3,000,000. This gave us the territory 
roughly bounded as follows: on the north by 42° N., 
on the east by the Eio Grande and a line running 
due north from its source to 42° N., on the south by 
the Gila river and lines joining its source and mouth 
with the Rio Grande and the Pacific respectively, and 
on the west by the Pacific. 

The southern boundary was questioned, and it 
seemed as if more trouble was to follow. To end 
this new dispute our minister to Mexico, Mr. Gadsden, 
purchased, in 1853, the land lying between the Gila 
river and our present southern boundary. We gave 
$10,000,000 for this piece of territory; it contains 
about 45,000 square miles. Since the purchase was 
made- by Mr. Gadsden the land is often referred to as 
the Gadsden purchase. 



ACQUISITIONS SINCE 1803. 33 

ALASKA. 

The northwestern part of the continent was dis- 
covered by an exploring expedition from Eiissia under 
Vitus Behring in 1728. Russia made but slight effort 
to colonize the land thus gained, and while it re- 
mained in her possession it was left to a great Russian 
fur company. In 18G7-this land, known as Alaska, 
was sold to the United States for $7,200,000. 

There was much opposition to the purchase of 
Alaska, and many congressmen consented to it only 
because of the friendship Russia had shown to the 
United States during th^ Civil War. It is well known 
that the sympathy of the English government was 
with the South during that war, and sometimes it 
seemed as if the Confederate government would 
receive aid from the mother country. At one time 
when there seemed great probability that England 
would interfere in favor of the South, a fleet of Rus- 
sian war vessels called at New York on a friendly 
visit. Since Russia and England are very jealous of 
each other, it did not take a very slirewd statesman 
to guess that the Russian fleet had made this call so 
as to beat hand to help us if England persisted in 
taking part with the South. Fortunately England 
did not go so far as that, but Russia's willingness to 
help us was remembered. When she wished to sell 
us Alaska we could scarcely refuse to take it, and 
the purchase was concluded. Since the discoveries 



UtfCi 



34 ACQUISITIONS SINCE 1803. 

of gold in that region the territory is considered more 
valuable. 

There is a dispute about the boundary of that 
part of Alaska extending southward along the coast. 
Efforts are now being made to end it (1899), but as 
yet there does not seem to be much hope of immediate 
settlement of the question. The dispute arose as 
follows: This part of the boundary is described in 
our treaty with Eussia and in treaties between Eus- 
sia and England, as following the range of mountains 
running parallel to the coast. If this range was 
found to be more than thirty miles from the coast at 
any place, then the boundarj^ was to run parallel to 
the coast and thirty miles from it. Now there are 
no mountains which answer the description of the 
treaties, but there are various scattered ranges of hills 
and mountains which might possibly be meant. Nat- 
urally our government contends for those farthest 
from the shore, up to the thirty mile limit, while the 
English government claims those nearer the shore as 
the line. There is also some dispute as to what is to 
be considered as the shore line. The numerous bays, 
inlets, islands, etc., which are found along the coast, 
make it difficult to determine from what points to 
measure the thirty miles. England maintains that 
many of these smaller islands are really to be con- 
sidered a part of the mainland and that the true 
coastline lies beyond them ; our government contends 
for a line within all the islands. 



ACQUISITIONS SINCE 1803. 35 

HAWAII. 

The Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands lie in the 
Pacific Ocean about 2,100 miles southwest of San 
Francisco. There are twelve islands in the group, 
only eight being inhabited. They were discovered 
by the celebrated English navigator. Captain James 
Cook, in 1778. No claim of the islands was made 
in consequence of this discovery, and they remained 
practically independent until annexed to the United 
States in 1898. 

The inhabitants of the different islands were at 
first under separate kings or chiefs, but the chief of 
the largest island conquered the others and obtained 
control of the whole group. After 1820 Americans 
began to go to the islands, and in 1844 the govern- 
ment was changed from an absolute to a constitutional 
monarchy. This form of government continued un- 
til 1893, in which year a rebellion took place, chiefly 
under the leadership of Americans. July 4, 1894, a 
republic was proclaimed. This new government at 
once began negotiations for annexation to the United 
States. July 16, 1897, a treaty of annexation was 
signed, but as it was found the treaty could not com- 
mand a two-thirds vote in the United States Senate 
it was dropped. Congress then passed a joint resolu- 
tion of annexation, and on July 12, 1898, the formal 
transfer of authority was made, In 1900 Congress 
provided a territorial form of government for the 



36 ACQUISITIONS SINCE 1803. 

islands, giving the people a large degree of self-gov- 
ernmet. 

Hawaii is chiefly valuable because of its sugar 
plantations and as a naval station. The foreign com- 
merce of the islands is the greatest in proportion to 
the population (about 100,000) of almost any country 
in the world, 

SPANISH CESSIONS OF 1898. 

Spain at one time owned the larger portion of the 
two American continents and the West India islands. 
Her last possessions on the main land were lost be- 
tween 1820 and 1830. The inhabitants of the Span- 
ish West Indies engaged in numerous unsuccessful 
attempts to gain their freedom. Finally the people 
of the United States decided that the last war in 
Cuba was carried on with so much cruelty that it 
was time to interfere. President McKinley ordered 
the Spanish government to withdraw from Cuba, and 
when they refused to do so Congress declared war 
against Spain, April 25, 1898. 

After a short contest, during which two Spanish 
fleets of war vessels were destroyed, Spain sued for 
peace. Commissioners from the two countries met 
at Paris, and on December 10, 1898, signed a treaty 
w^hich was promptly ratified by both governments 
concerned. By this treaty the United States received 
Spain's claims to Porto Rico, Gruam, and the Philip- 



ACQUISITIONS SINCE 1803. 37 

pines. Cuba was to remain under the control of the 
United States until her people could arrange a gov- 
ernment of their own. 

Porto Eico is one of the West India islands, lying 
seventy miles east of Hayti. Its area is 3,668 square 
miles, and its population is probably a little less than 
one million. It is valuable chiefly for its agriculture, 
tobacco, rice, cotton and sugar being the most import- 
ant products. 

Guam is the largest of the Ladrones, a group of 
small islands in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii 
and the Philippines. This island was held as a naval 
station. 

The Philippines are a large group of islands lying 
off the southeastern part of Asia. A rebellion was 
going on against the authority of Spain when the 
Spanish-American war broke out. After the cession 
of the islands to the United States the insurgents 
turned their arms against the Americans, and are as 
yet (1900) not wholly subdued. There are probably 
a thousand islands in the group, with a population of 
nearly eight millions. The islands are very fertile 
and are supposed to contain rich but undeveloped 
deposits of minerals. Their possession will be of 
importance to the United States as a basis for com- 
merce with Asia. 



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